That's A Wrap!

     Wrapping up the first semester this week has been a real accomplishment and, as previously mentioned, an emotional roller-coaster. This week was the real stressor. My grandfather was life-flighted from his hometown to the next largest town on Wednesday morning, early. It.Scared.The.Life.Out.Of.Me. Come to find out, they had to do CPR on him. Wow. He had had a heart attack, again. 
I was studying that day, for my last final, of the semester, math. I was so scared and brokenhearted. Fast forward to later that afternoon, we walked into the emergency room that he was in and he looked like death warmed over. My grandma happily reported that he was looking much better. I was shocked. He looked gray, to me. Colorless. Old. Tired. Not like my "papa", at all.
We stayed for most of the day, and when the time came, we had to drive the 2 hours back home. I got little to no study time for my math final and I was terrified. Arriving home, I went straight to the book and studied until I was falling asleep sitting up. I woke the next morning, much too early, and started studying again. I was emotionally and physically exhausted, to say the least. It was final day though, and I had to be there for my test at 8 A.M., bright and early, rain or shine. It had to be done.


 Originally, our class had something like 25+ people in it. Out of that amount, it dwindled down to maybe 15, or so. A couple of people had to drop out/withdraw for various reasons. A couple of them just stopped showing up and then there were the one's who were still student's but barely came to class. Out of all of the people who were supposed to take the final exam, 8 showed up. Yep, just the 8, including me. All semester I have carried a B in that class. I have had my own struggle's with the work that was required of me but somehow, some way, I managed. I spoke with my teacher, who is excellent by the way, and she would show me, again, how to do the problem, where I went wrong and she would go over it again in class with all of us, so that it was burned into my little brain. I have the highest regard for my math teacher. She's nice, she's really cool and I think she'd be the kind of person that would be fun to hang out with. Oh, and, we share the same day of birth. How neat is that?!?

 I'm a non-traditional student, with 2 kids and a boyfriend. I've always struggled with my own self-worth because of my upbringing. I quit school when I was 16. I got my G.E.D. some 20 years later with little to no effort, other than brushing up on my math. I have always let the fact that I was a quitter, get me down. After I found out that I was pregnant with my first, I vowed that I would get my G.E.D. before she started school, but I never did it. It wasn't until I was 36, almost 37, years old that I finally broke down and decided the time had come. I went to the college that I attend now, and spoke with someone about a program called the G.E.D. passport program. They not only tested me, to see where I stood but, they also tutored me in math. Then, they retested me to see where I stood and declared me ready to take the test. They also paid for me to take the test. I was thrilled, to say the least. After being out of school for 20+ years, I passed it on the first try. The day that I found out, I cried. I also jumped up and down. LOL
I owe it all to my friend, Kara. She encouraged me to do it. She's a great big ball of wonderful :)
This school, my school, has such an emotional place in my life. I love my school. I am passionate about it, and the staff.

 As I was writing this post, albeit very long and drawn out, I was, in another browser window, constantly refreshing my grade book page to see what I made on my math final. It's the only grade that I am waiting for. And wait no more! I made a B on that final.

 In closing I just want to give thank's to all of my great teachers. I have learned from you all, so much. I am taking it all with me and moving forward into the future of my education.

Oh, and. My first semester in college? Yeah, I made 2 B's and an A :))))